Book reviews / humor / rereading and writing
Deborah Burriss
BLOODHOUNDS by Peter Lovesey. (Mysterious. $22)
Bath police detective Peter Diamond may not have much use for mys=
tery
fiction, but his desire for a baffling case puts him on a par with the
Bloodhounds, a group of fans who lend their name to Peter Lovesey=B9s
fine novel.
They=B9re not the type of fans a mystery lover loves to encounter=
, as
they include Sid, a security guard who rarely talks; Miss Chil-mark,
whose favorite mystery is =B3The Name of the Rose=B2; and Rupert, a
beret-wearing provocateur whose wet dog breaks up one meeting by
shaking his damp fur at everybody.
Diamond is an irascible figure: a brilliant mind shrouded in the
hefty bulk of a work-oriented bully who doesn=B9t realize the damage he
causes with his attitude. He doesn=B9t suffer fools gladly, especially
his workplace rival with the unfortunate name of John Wigfull.
Lovesey=B9s a master at plotting and misdirection, and =B3Blood- =
hounds=B2
shows him in top form. This loosey-goosey tale involving the theft of
a valuable stamp and an =B3impossible=B2 murder done on a locked
houseboat, takes so many loops that it would be unfair to tip off the
reader. Avoid reading the jacket copy as well; it will let you
experience the ride as Lovesey planned it.
While all this is going on, Lovesey works into the text subtle
references to mystery and classic literature. Fans will have fun
ferreting out the clues, while the rest of us can concentrate on
peeling back the layers of story, all the while admiring the parks and
tenements of this old English town.
=B3Bloodhounds=B2 is an old-fashioned mystery that lives comforta=
bly in
contemporary times. Lovesey pays homage to the classic puzzle sleuths,
but adds his unique blend of characterization and wit, and comes up
trumps in this entertaining novel.
WIN, LOSE OR DIE. Edited by Cynthia Manson & Constance Scarborough.
(St. Martin's. $5.99)
Games of chance and skill are the unifying link in this collectio=
n of
26 short stories drawn from the pages of Ellery Queen and Alfred
Hitchcock mystery magazines.
Editors Cynthia Manson and Constance Scarborough chose stories fr=
om a
diverse cast of authors and styles. Classic cases from Agatha Christie
and Anthony Boucher are laid alongside current popular favorites such
as Sara Paretsky and Bill Pronzini. While Ellery Queen=B9s =B3The
Gamblers=B9 Club=B2 represents the old-fashioned whodunit, Ruth Rendell=B9=
s
=B3The Man Who Was the God of Love=B2 and Stanley Ellin=B9s =B3Fool=B9s M=
ate=B2
are longer, psychologically driven tales involving shrewish wives and
wormy husbands.
There are even stories with a sting in their tales, like H.R.F.
Keating=B9s =B3Scrabble Babble Dabble,=B2 about a wife whose husband=B9s =
mania
for the game drives her to murder. The story would have fit right into
the old =B3Alfred Hitchcock Presents=B2 television show. David Kaufman=B9=
s
=B3Mr. Hancock=B9s Last Game=B2 hints at a deal with, well, if not the
devil, then someone in the same zip code, that would make it
appropriate for =B3Weird Tales.=B2
The collection=B9s only weakness is in the lack of explanatory
introductions. But overall, =B3Win, Lose or Die=B2 is a top-notch
collection of puzzles and plot devices, an ideal break between chess
moves, while the deck is being shuffled or at halftime.
COMEDY TONIGHT
Has anyone noticed that some of t=
he posters on DL are
laugh-out-loud funny? Recent examples are the takes on emoticons and
neuticles by Lev R. and Joe Scarpato. Polly's postings are
consistently funny and bizarre, and while it's easy to be bizarre,
it's hard to be funny and bizarre. Her extended satire on the entire
mystery / thriller genre should be given to a wider audience than the
Mystfield House site at http://members.aol.com/Mystfield/House.html.
SIGNING SCHEDULES
Jimmy, try, bookwire.com which is a central clearingh=
ouse for
all things literary. They have a special sections (connected to
Publishers Weekly) that tracks signings. Also, certain publishers also
list their authors' signing schedules.
REREADING and WRITING
Like many others who have=
confessed their hoarding sins, I have
a large library of books. Since I got married, however, it has been
shrinking slowly. My wife is a former naval officer who endured
roughly 20 moves over 10 years, and had to be ruthless with her
possessions, including her books. She's since tossed a number of
books, and, well, being married, I've had to reconsider my library as
well. In brief, what stays are mostly non-fiction: reference works,
Civil War, how-to-write books <ancient Chinese secret huh?>,
biographies and memoirs. The fiction that stays behind either has to
have some sentimental value, are books that I will consult for
specific writing techniques, or books that I will reread. I've found
that a lot of pop fiction's going away, and a lot of the classics
(Austen, Tolkien, Kipling, Fitzgerald and Hemingway) are staying
behind.
Why reread? Because books get better with time, and because I
understand them better from experience. Reading Hemingway's "The Sun
Also Rises" meant more to me at 35 than it did at 16.
Currently, I'm reading books for review and rewriting my first
mystery. I wouldn't recommend it for others, since it becomes very
easy to adopt another person's style subconsciously, and can interfere
with developing your own. On the other hand, reviewing books has
forced me to discover authors I never would have found otherwise, so
it has improved my writing greatly.
"I still believe in love. Especially when it helps sustain the plot
structure."
=
=
=
--- Kinky Fr=
iedman
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Peschel